A few months ago, I had it all. An executive job in a prestigious investment firm owned by my father. Ha! Yeah, right - father. I'll explain about that later.

I lived in a waterfront apartment overlooking the harbor and drove a Mercedes convertible. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone. All of it. Everything, except the fucking clothes on my back. I was broken. A bastard.

Did I mention, I'm gay? No? Oh well, I have now.

This is the story of how my fairytale life turned to shit in the blink of an eye.......

I rummage through the pile, locate the Pope investment file, and thrust it in my father's direction. He snatches it from me and turns to leave.

"They won't stay. We can't offer them the return the Phillips can. He said he would leave half with me but that's it."

Dad swings around and pins me with narrowed eyes. "Thinking like that will get you fucking nowhere in this business. Half is not good enough. Samuel won't take no for an answer, he'll demand they keep it all with us." He storms from my office and I can't resist giving him the bird behind his back. Yeah, real mature I know.

Samuel is my brother, three years younger than my twenty-six years and mom and dad's golden child. Literally. While I have hair as black as coal and pale gray eyes, my brother is surfie blonde with clear ice blue eyes. The image of my father. I'm tall at six feet seven inches, he is average at five feet eleven inches. My body is hard with washboard abs I work hard to keep. Samuels is soft with a little too much fat around the middle. In looks we are poles apart. In temperament, we are planets apart.

I'm easy going, slow to anger. A loner and a little on the shy side. Samuel is a mean motherfucker like our dad and has a deadly short fuse. Fuck, his temper could blow you into outer space. Brothers we might be, friends, we are not. Hell, we don't even like each other, can't even stand to be in the same room together most of the time.

We all work downtown at Alexander's Investment Corporation. It was my grandfather's business, handed down to my father. One day, being the eldest son, it will be mine.

When I finally take control, if there is a business left to take control of, changes will be made. We miss out on, and are losing, accounts because of dad's and Samuel's greed. Our commission is one of the highest in the city. As I said - greed. The only thing keeping most accounts with us, and the business afloat, is loyalty to my father. God only knows why! We also have a high success rate in recommendations. Or should I say, I have a high success rate. Not to blow my own trumpet but, Dad and Samuel are shit when it comes to selecting successful investments. They don't study the market and make snap decisions which usually backfire. Big time.

Anyway, as I was saying, clients stay because of our, read my, success in making them money. Other firms take lower commissions but their success rate is around sixty percent on average. Mine is ninety percent.